North America, Canada, Canadian Rockies, Mount Blackhorn, North Face

Publication Year: 1966.

Mount Blackhorn, North Face. While hiking in to the Ramparts, on August 2 Jerry Fuller and I made the first ascent of the north face of Blackhorn, directly from Astoria Creek. Once we were on the peak, some 800 feet of fairly steep snow took us into the entrance of a great couloir which separates the east and west summits. A difficult pitch with rockfall danger brought us to the good rock of the headwall on the left of the couloir. We climbed 1000 feet of rock here, occasionally with difficult moves but generally with good quartzite handholds. Twice we were showered with rockfall, and near the eastern summit the rock of the final ridge was very unstable.

Fred Beckey